We celebrated our Teachers Day today. It was a grand event organised by the Students Council (Prefect) and PERTENO (Six formers). It was different from the previous years; the arrangement of students and teachers, the flow, the gimmicks, the concept and even the speech from the head girls was different. She showed maturity in the content. A few teachers realised the difference in the speech. Usually less attention is given to speeches in most events, but this morning's speech from the head girl was TRUELY different. The teachers were paying attention to her speech. She is quite a quiet girl, soft spoken and gentle.
The most touching part was the song played when the principal was cutting the "pulut kuning" (yellow glutinous rice). Out of a sudden. I never expect to hear that song again. It's been years. I still remember the lyrics VERY WELL. It goes like this:
HARI PERTAMA MASUK SEKOLAH
TAK PANDAI MEMBACA MENGIRA
TETAPI CIKGU BEGITU TABAH
MENGAJAR KAMI SUNGGUH-SUNGGUH.
BERMULA ABC SAMPAI Z
KIRA SATU SAMPAI SEPULUH
BARU EJAAN DAN KIRA-KIRA
KAMI BELAJAR DENGAN TABAH
BERKAT KESABARAN GURU BIJAKSANA
MEMBERI BERBAGAI PETUNJUK
HARI DEMI HARI
KAMI PUN MENGERTI
PELAJARAN NILAINYA TINGGI.
KAMI INGAT SETIAP MASA
JASA GURU MENDIDIK BANGSA
DENGARLAH INI UCAPAN KAMI
TERIMA KASIH CIKGU...
Why is this particular song gives lump in my throat? It reminds me of my first year teaching in SK Long Pillah, Baram. I just held my tears with lump in my throat as I tried to sing along with the students. My early years as a teacher was the most momerable and treasured part of my teaching life. That was when you were really appreciated and felt important.
I still remember clearly it was June 1989 I started my life as teacher. I was accepted to do my training in Rajang Teachers College (MPR) in Sarikei. I went there by express boat from Kuching to Sarikei. After two years I was posted to a very alien place-Long Pillah, Baram. The "Long" is enough to give chill to any teacher-to-be. Many even asked for transfer before setting their foot there. Young, energetic and enthusiastic, I took the challenge.
In late November 1991, I set my foot in Marudi town after taking the long Kuching-Miri-Marudi connecting flights. In those days, the school term started in December. In Marudi I met my new friends, all from Kuching. The four young men were my colleagues; three "Wans": Wan Sulaiman and Wan Mohd Halik (both from Sejingkat), Wan Alek (Sebuyau) and Mohd Sahari (Perumahan Petra Jaya). Sahari later gave himself a "wan" title too (Sahari-One Day-Wan Day). That's the beginning of our bond.
Meeting the students for the first time was really an unforgetable experience, especially the year one. They had never been to pre-school. So, their first year was their pre-school. Everything from zero. They were very clean and pure. The only language they knew was Kayan. Just imagine trying to teach English and muzik to this young and enthusiastic kids. This was the time when I developed my own sign language; "eyes" (ponting to my eyes), the whole class did so, pointing to their eyes and said "EYES". How cute they were. I had to teach verbs too. "Stand up", "Sit down", "Walk" etc. I was puzzled and confused whenever I said "Sit down" the whole class burst into laughter. Luckily there was a boy who knew Malay quite well. He told me that the word was obscene and it's a taboo for them to say it. Guess what? "Sit" means the female genitalia! Oh my God! At first I was "freeze". How am I going to teach this word? Everytime I commanded them to settle down/"sit" down, the boys would laugh whereas the girls would giggle. Then I told the boy who understood Malay that I was teaching English, not Kayan. So, the "sit" is "melok" (Kayan for sit down) not the taboo word. Fuh...that's really an experience for a new English Language teacher. After that, they accepted the word 'openly', no more laughter and giggle.
Besides English I was teaching muzic and PE (PJ) too. For those who are unfamiliar with primary school world, teachers could be assigned to teach and do anything under the sun. NEVER REJECT WHAT THE GURU BESAR ASKED YOU TO DO. PE meant football and telematch, no other skills. Teaching muzic was also very interesting. Radio was not working most of the time. Why? No electricity supply! Dry cells (battery)? Sometimes out of stock. So we did it without any musical instrument. Later I bought a guitar in Marudi. Yeah...With my limited knowledge and skills I impressed the kids with it. One of the songs we used to sing was that particular song up there. That was a 'mandatory song' we introduced in year one. That was the reason why I choked when it was played this morning. It was our 'sacred song'. All the kids appeared in my mind, my memory ran back to the young kids in Long Pillah 20 years ago. I could remember clearly and vividly. Nothing is missing to this day.
With FB, we are establishing out network, contacting each other. They are everywhere, one girl even ended up in the US. They showed their children. I thought I remember them well but I was wrong. I still remember them as they were 20 years ago. Seeing them in FB, I couldn't recognise them. I have to recollect who is who by the photos in their album. Time flies really fast. I thought I was still as young and energetic but grey hair starts to appear and my three children are nearly as tall as me. Then I realised that I am not as young as before. But my time in Marudi, Long Lama, Long Pillah and sometimes I went up to Long Kesseh and Long Na-ah, were still fresh, as if they were yesterday. I can still remember the time we went picnicing with the kids, harvesting padi with the villagers, spending nights at their "sulap" (hut) and getting to know a few Penans during weekends.
Experience living in Long Pillah can never ever be obtained if I rejected the posting. I never regretted going there. May be one day we will go back there with the "wans" to meet our foster families. God's willing. Bidapud lagi...
